


The Magical World of Disneyworks : Take Two

by ismycapsloudenoughforyou



Series: TMWOD [2]
Category: Disney - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Anxiety, F/F, Gen, References to Depression, bc the first verion sucked but it had a good core, every fic i write is catharctic there's gonna be anxiety in there somewhere, i have no idea what's going to happen next but i know what's going to happen 900k words after that, i'm winging the hell out of this one except i'm also putting months of thought into most sentences, me: (writes a scene i won't be able to use for at least 16 chapters), me: hey i should write this fic, so i fucked off to make it slightly better, the hard part about writing this is i keep writing out of order, this is not a sequel this is a REWRITE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27873726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ismycapsloudenoughforyou/pseuds/ismycapsloudenoughforyou
Summary: A once in a lifetime trip to Walt Disney World goes sideways fast when what seemed to be a reskin of the park's interactive game turns out to. . . well. Be real. Now four incredibly unprepared students have been made Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom in under twenty minutes, and the fate of every Disney owned property rests in their hands.This is especially concerning considering the mouse has snapped up nearly every franchise and movie maker on the market, like Marvel and most recently, Dreamworks.or,you: infinity war was the most ambitious crossoverme, downing a capri sun: check this shit out
Series: TMWOD [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040769
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Magical World of Disneyworks : Take Two

**Author's Note:**

> hey kids, i got in over my head and i have about 7 weeks of hibernation stretching out ahead of me, and i lost my braincells and decided i was desperate enough to share my writing to post the first chapter of the rewrite. so here it is.
> 
> i don't have much else, but hopefully enough people will take a shot on my bullshit once again to be the brain shock that i need. honestly i'm really excited for what this story could be, but the process of like. actually writing it down. is EXCRUCIATING.
> 
> anyway, welcome back to Disneyworks! this time slightly to the left.

Zak had never been more excited to be anywhere in what amounted to his whole life. Their director only had to mention that they’d be going to Disney World and he was more than ready to pour his entire life savings into it. Lucky for him, they had ample fundraising opportunities so he didn't have to use his college fund to go to a theme park. His mom might have killed him.

“Bummer they haven’t had time to get anything Rise of the Guardians themed out here yet,” Kari said, craning her neck to stare up at the train station as they approached the Magic Kingdom. “I’d’ve loved to take a ride on North’s sleigh.”

“Well they only bought out Dreamworks a month ago, I doubt they've even had enough time to Imagineer anything.”

“I still can't believe Dreamworks just laid down and took it.” Kari shook her head. “Guess we better bow down to our Mousey overlords while we still have legs.”

“I’m more worried about a bedazzled guillotine."

Kari shoved his side and laughed. “Shut up.”

“Hey, I almost forgot." Zak tugged his drawstring bag off his shoulders as they approached the bag check lines. "While I was researching this place I found this super cool interactive game they've got going. You want to check it out while we're here?”

Kari snorted. “Is that even a question?”

Zak looked at her. “Yes, that's why I turned up my voice at the end.”

Kari elbowed him again. “Of course I want to check out the game, you big nerd.” She grinned. “You think I’m going to waste my one chance?”

“Well come on then.” They made it through the bag check and the ticket validation, and he took her by the arm and dragged her under the train station. “Training’s in the fire station!”

The Cast Member working the training spot talked him down from the hardest difficulty, assuring him that he’d want easy on the first go. Kari got her own separate key to the game. Zak almost suggested a race, but she pointed out that their director would probably kill them if he found out they’d separated and he’d waved that little dream goodbye.

Zak touched his key card to the plastic lock on the wall and activated the training portal.

“Oh goodness! New recruit!” Merlin said, straightening up inside his trashed office. “I suppose you’ll want to know what’s going on.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Zak said cheerfully. Kari snickered and elbowed him.

The camera zoomed in on a crystal ball on a nearby table and Hades’s voice rang from the speakers. “Boys, I’m thinking it’s time for a change of atmosphere, you know, maybe a nice summer place.” He rubbed his long chin with a crooked finger.

“You could use a little sun, boss,” Pain agreed nervously.

“Which is why I’ve got my eye on this charming little kingdom,” Hades said, and the image faded to show Cinderella Castle. “The ‘charming’ part can be fixed, but otherwise it’s got some nice curb appeal, just redecorate, hang some new drapes--” purple vines shot up and burnt to ash on the bricks as the castle became a ruin-- “and hey, we’re good. But best of all, we can get it for a  _ steal _ .” The castle dissolved into smoke as they snickered over the terrible pun. “The only problem--a minor problem--is this wizard Merlin. He’s got a security system, the ‘Crystal of the Magic Kingdom’.” A Merlin statue appeared, holding a crystal ball on a golden base. Zak and Kari did their best to match the reflection in the ball of Pain and Panic playing patty cake. “Word is it can defeat  _ any _ evil.” The crystal disappeared, revealing the real Pain and Panic looking sheepish. “So I need  _ you _ to steal it.”

The portal then showed Hades’s two minions attempting to steal the crystal and failing as Merlin caught them. Zak sort of missed the last half since he was doing his best to keep up with Kari’s masterful pattycake technique. The pieces had scattered, there was a giant villain team up à la that Mickey Mouse Halloween special, blah blah blah. Now off you go.

So off they went.

“Bummer we can’t have a vs match,” he said as they struck out for Kari’s portal (not too far, thankfully, just over in Fantasyland). “I was really hoping.”

“Oh well.” She shrugged. “I guess I’ll just have to be faster at casting my spells than you are.”

Zak snorted. “Right, because you’re expecting Disney to have better sensors than my living room Wii?”

“Well they’re about to dominate the entire film industry, so yes.”

“Fair enough.” They stopped in front of the shield portal. “Unlock the magical world, baby!”

Kari touched her key card to the lock, and the space behind the glass flashed with lightning. Merlin appeared, looking distinctly shabbier. His hat had developed a hole between portals, apparently. “Good to see you, sorcerers! There’s something urgent I need you to attend to, right away! Will the both of you please make your way to the clover portal? I’ll meet you there!”

The portal disappeared with a crackle, leaving nothing but their confused expressions reflected on the window.

“ ‘The both of you’?” Kari repeated. “But you have your own key, how would the computer know there were two of us?”

“Why would they record such specific voice lines?” Zak shook his head, mystified. “No clue. Guess we better hightail it for the clover.”

  
  


Not for the first time, Lottie wished she had even just a modicum of courage inside her. Sure, she’d been brave enough to take a shot on this trip in the first place, but this  _ really _ wasn’t bumping her overall reservoir of self worth anyway. Hell, she wasn’t even sure it was worth it.

See, the orchestra directors had checked if each person had a group, right? So they didn’t get lost in the parks. And she hadn’t had one, because she always choked every time she wanted to talk to someone, like, she’d think about going up to them, and then she’d feel almost physically ill and that would be the end of that. But the thing was, her directors had seen her standing near enough to a group of people that they seemed to think she was part of that group, because they hadn’t told her to find a group, and they hadn’t helped her find a group, they’d given her a look, a smile, a nod, and moved on.

So Lottie was lone wolfing it around the Magic Kingdom, doing her best to not explode, and to enjoy herself, and to not get caught on her own.

It was a lot.

She’d seen one of her directors wandering around Frontierland and immediately turned around (she’d go look wistfully up at Splash Mountain later). Now she was just slipping around the corners, trying not to look back at him and also trying not to be seen by him, which was difficult because she had no idea where he was. Lone wolfing had been a terrible plan, but her brother had graduated two years ago, and she was deathly afraid of forcing her presence on anyone else in the orchestra, so it was her only option.

She ducked around the backside of a little cluster of houses, hoping that if she just rested for a second her director would just walk past her and she'd be able to make it at least to Fantasyland. The odds of being seen were a lot worse when she was in line for something, and the Small World ride had a large queue hidden under an overhang.

The rain that was beginning to fall helped a little, at least. They’d probably run for cover in one of the restaurants lining the river and she’d be able to disappear.

As she leaned against the wall, water dripping from her curls, a pair of Cast Members leaning on a small stand nearby smiled at her. “Hiding from the rain?” the woman asked.

She was sure hiding from something. Lottie nodded.

“Yeah, it gets pretty bad out there. First day at the parks?”

“Yeah,” she said, inwardly berating herself for being so stiff and awkward. “For an orchestra trip. We’re gonna perform later this week.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that was happening this week," her partner said. “What instrument do you play?”

“Viola.”

“Nice,” he said. “Hey, while you’re here, you want to play Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom?”

She blinked, absently wiping at the water running down her forehead. “What?”

“Oh yeah, we can give you the pitch,” the woman said, pulling a card packet out of a drawer. “Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is an interactive game you can play throughout the Magic Kingdom.” And the pair of them explained how the cards were used to play the game (spell cards to attack, a smaller key card to activate the portals) and then gave her a map. “You can do the tutorial at that portal in just a second.” She gestured towards the oval on the side of the building, currently active with an animation of Merlin--from  _ The Sword in the Stone _ \--giving instructions in what was almost a shout. The player standing in front of the portal shuffled a card back into the ones in her hand, and Lottie fought down something like a shudder seeing it was one of her classmates, Willow. She’d seen her around--everyone had--but there was no way Willow had seen her around before. She wouldn't even recognize her, would she? No, Lottie was such a background presence, there was no way. And anyway, she wouldn’t tell Noser on her, would she? She’d probably just turn around and--

“Hey.”

\-- _ and talk to her apparently oh god _ .

“Hey.” Lottie tried to get her heart rate back under control.

“You’re the first chair violist, right? In the orchestra?”

“Yeah. That’s me.” She? Knew? What position Lottie played in the orchestra? “You play bass, right?”

“I do, yeah.” She shrugged like it was nothing. “And percussion, and guitar.”

“And kazoo.”

Willow laughed. “Now that would’ve made an interesting solo.”

“I still wish we could’ve played that song in the concert,” Lottie said, heart going a mile a minute.

“That would’ve been cool,” she said, “but also, with how unprepared we were, maybe it was for the best.” She gestured to the portal. “All yours.”

“Thanks.” Lottie stepped up, all but shaking. She touched her key to the lock, and with a flash of magical lightning across the hidden screen, the portal opened.

“Oh, goodness! New recruit!” Merlin said. “I suppose you’ll want to know what's going on.”

The camera panned into a crystal ball. Willow snickered right as Hades began to speak, and Lottie’s brain went into panic mode because  _ oh god she hadn’t left yet _ . She missed most of the exposition trying to get her emotions under control, but she understood enough to know what her next step would be: Go between the portals, and use the spell cards to defeat Hades. It sounded doable.

The portal directed her to go to the lizard portal next. Quickly consulting her map, it seemed to be over in Frontierland. . . down by where she’d seen her director. As the portal closed with another crackle of lightning, she turned, already trying to plan where she’d head to next, and was sort of shocked to see Willow still standing there.

“Hey, so. . .” Willow ran a sheepish hand through her hair. “My group kind of. . . lost me. And, you know, I noticed you avoiding Noser earlier, so I’m guessing you don’t have one either, and I guess. . . I was wondering if you wanted to team up? You know--” she made a gesture like she was stabbing someone-- “defeat Hades or whatever.”

“Yeah, that-- sounds great,” Lottie managed, heart pounding because  _ she'd choose to tether herself to Lottie, of all people, willingly?! _

“My first portal’s over on Main Street, so we should probably go to your portal first.” Willow stuffed her map into her back pocket. Lottie carefully folded her own, slipping it into an inside pocket of her purse and closing it up against the rain that was still sprinkling down on them. “The lizard’s over by the Country Bear Jamboree, I remember seeing that. Thank you!” she added, addressing the Cast Members standing by the cart, engrossed in their own discussion.

“Good luck,” the woman said cheerily.

“Don’t forget, you get another free card pack every day you’re in the park!” the man called. “Make sure to stop by the firehouse!”

Willow saluted with an easy grace that had Lottie’s stomach twisting. “Will do!”

The lizard portal was a decent walk from the Sorcerer’s Training (as the little stand was marked on her map), but they made it in good time. Lottie instinctively tensed up as they passed their director standing on the front porch of a shop with what looked like a root beer float, but she didn’t need to be worried anymore. Willow gave him a jovial wave, and he lifted the float in response.

“Nice guy,” Willow said. “Bit scatterbrained, but a nice guy.” She shook her head. “I’ve been on my own pretty much since we got through the gates, and he hasn’t called me on it once. I wave at him every time I go by, and not once did he notice.”

“Oh,” Lottie said, suddenly feeling dumb. “I guess I didn’t need to hide, then, did I?”

“Hey, if Mission Impossible is more your style then more power to you,” Willow said. “Got your key?”

Lottie nodded, pulling it out as they mounted the stairs to the porch. “You see the hole?” She flinched. “I mean-- the keyhole.”

Willow snickered, but it didn't feel like she was laughing  _ at _ her. “No, I got what you meant.”

Willow was the one to find it in the end. Lottie held her key card against it, and the lightning cracked against the background as a portal flashed into existence behind the glass. Willow whistled. “Those are well hidden.”

Merlin looked a bit worse than he had in the training portal, like he hadn't slept in weeks. “Sorcerer, there’s an emergency I need you to tend to immediately,” he said. “You'll have to make a slight detour. I assure you, it’s crucial. Meet me at the clover portal on your map, as soon as you can!”

The portal flashed and closed. Unsettled, Lottie took up her map. “The clover?”

“I didn’t think they’d recorded voice lines to direct you to each individual portal.” Willow frowned. “I thought they just said stuff like, ‘this is the portal you need to go to next’ so they could use them for any portal?”

“Well, I mean, this is Disney.” Lottie shrugged.

“I guess. And I mean, they bought Dreamworks, so they’re probably rolling in it.” Willow rolled her eyes as she spoke. “I’m sure they could spare the cash to record some extra voice lines.”

“Yeah,” Lottie said, still unsettled. “Probably.” She flipped her map around. “The clover’s on Main Street, so maybe we could hit up your portal as we go by?”

“Okay. I doubt it’s really a timed thing anyway. This is Disney World after all.”

  
  


There was another group standing in the train station, messing with their cards near where the clover portal was, when Willow and Lottie arrived. Willow’s portal had directed her to the same place as Lottie’s, although the voice line had been ever so slightly different, which had her a little suspicious and a lot confused.

“Oh hey, you’re playing the game too?” the boy (Zak, maybe? The second row cellist?) said.

“Yeah,” Willow said. “You got Merlin’s sketchy voice line too?”

“ ‘Will the both of you please go to the clover portal’,” his friend imitated. “It’s too specific, I don’t know if I like it.”

“Sketchy,” Willow repeated. “So who goes first?”

“I will,” Zak claimed it, stepping forward and touching his key to the lock. The arrival schedule disappeared with a  _ poof _ sound and a puff of smoke as a portal opened. The shabby Merlin appeared in the portal.

“Oh good, you’re all here,” he said. “I was worried I’d have to explain this twice.”

Zak glanced backwards. “Explain?” he asked quietly. “But we already did the tutorial.”

“Indeed, explain!” Merlin said, and all four of them jumped. “The problem is very different than you learned in the training portals.”

Zak leaned away, not taking his eyes from Merlin this time. “ _ Did he just respond _ ,” he whispered loudly.

Merlin sighed. “Oh yes, I forgot. Yes, I can hear you.  _ This _ portal is the real thing, I promise.”

Zak’s friend (Kari? first chair second violin?) made a sound sort of like a coughing wheeze or a cat being strangled.

“A  _ real _ portal?” Willow raised an eyebrow. “More like an elaborate facetime.”

“Well-- yes, I suppose. If you’d like,” Merlin said.

“That’s some incredible motion capture tech though,” Zak said, inspecting the image. “To make it look 2D and not only match the expression but also exaggerate it like it was hand drawn,  _ live _ ? It’s crazy.”

“Not just crazy, my boy. Impossible!” Merlin said with a scowl. “Now, there’s something really quite important I need to tell you. You see, the quest has gone--oh how should I put it--off the rails, I suppose.”

“Off the rails how?” Kari asked, stepping closer to the portal.

“Well, we’ve been in a sort of tumult on this side ever since all these new people were added. There’s so much more evil to contain now, and I suppose the usual amount of sorcerers winning their quests just isn’t enough to keep up with it anymore. Hades started winning.”

“The usual amount?” Lottie said, so softly Willow wasn’t sure the portal would catch it.

“Yes, you know. People come to the park, they wander into the firehouse sometimes, and then they spend some time fighting Hades. Some of them defeat him, some of them only defeat a few of his minions, but regardless, the power of good we get from their actions is enough to keep Hades at bay. But the amount of people playing has decreased, and the amount of villains on this side has increased, and-- well, we just can’t keep up. So, I chose you, in the hopes that you could help me force Hades back into check, for long enough that we can stabilize everything at least.”

“I knew megacorporations were evil,” Kari whispered.

Willow crossed her arms. “And why us?”

“Because everyone else playing the game was a family,” Merlin said, “and I won’t be putting children in danger.”

Willow inclined her head. “Fair enough.”

“So, what, all the Disney characters are in there?” Kari asked.

“Disney, Dreamworks, Marvel, Star Wars, all that?” Zak added.

“Well the people from a galaxy far far away seem to have problems all of their own,” Merlin said wryly, “but everyone else is, yes.”

“And they’re all looking to you?”

“Yes,” Merlin said. “And they’re looking to you now, too.”

Zak whistled. “No pressure or anything.”

“Hold on, we didn’t even agree to this yet,” Willow said.

“I’m in,” Kari said immediately.

“Me too,” Zak said.

Merlin nodded, seeming relieved. He looked to them, standing in the back. Willow noticed Lottie seemed to shrink back, as their eyes turned her way.

“I-I dunno,” she said, and glanced around at all of them. “You’re sure I’m-- you know, cut out for this?”

"Dear girl, if you aren’t then who is?” Merlin asked.

Willow leaned in. “It’s just a game,” she whispered.

“But what if it isn’t?” Lottie looked down, twisting her hands.

“You’re not on your own,” Kari said.

“Yeah, we’re pretty capable,” Zak added.

“I-- okay,” Lottie said. “Yeah, I’ll-- I’ll try.”

“You’re sure?” Willow checked.

Lottie still looked nervous, but she gripped the strap of her purse and nodded. “Yeah.”

“I think it’ll be okay,” Willow said. She looked back at Merlin. “I’m in, too.”

“Perfect,” Merlin said, looking the most relieved he had their whole conversation. “Now, here’s what I need you to do.”

  
  


Merlin enchanted their keys to open up the true portals and sent them off all together with a mission.

“So we’re fighting Yzma, yeah? What’re her weaknesses?” Kari asked, shuffling through the cards she was holding.

“There has to be a wiki page online, hang on,” Willow had her phone out already.

Zak looked at her. “You think it’s just a reskin?”

“Yeah probably.” Willow scrolled through the page. “That’s the only explanation I’ve got. Unless it’s real.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Zak laughed.

Lottie put her head down and pretended look through her cards, if only to have something to do with her hands.

“Got it,” Willow said moments later. “Yzma’s on the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom wiki; she’s weak to gross spells.”

“Bummer,” Kari said. “I don’t have any of those.”

“Lottie?”

She glanced up to see Willow looking at her. “What?”

“You got any gross spells?”

“Um.” She shuffled through her cards. “No.”

Willow shrugged. “That’s fine, I’ve got two. I’ll trade you for one if you need.”

“We’re heading for the spider portal, right?” Kari asked, her map unfolded in her hands.

“That’s what he said,” Zak said, moving to look over her shoulder. He glanced at them. “Either of you got a map of the park?”

“You guys didn’t think to grab a map?” Willow asked.

He shrugged. “Kari thought it would be more fun to see what we could stumble across on the first day.”

"I’ve got one,” Lottie said softly, pulling it out of her purse.

“Great.”

They managed to get to the spider portal without much issue. Even still, Lottie couldn’t quite relax the muscles in her back.

“Whose key do we use?” Zak asked.

Willow shrugged. “I don’t think it matters.”

“Dibs!” Kari hollered, slapping her key card against the lock.

The portal opened with the same  _ poof _ as the one in the train station, appearing with a cloud of sparkles. Through the portal, Merlin was visible, standing next to Emperor Kuzco, who, true to form, relaxed on his throne sipping from a coconut.

“Hey, you made it!” Kuzco greeted. “Wasn’t sure you would.”

Merlin drew himself up. “Of course they would!” he said, and then turned to address them. “Yzma has plans to poison Kuzco and become Emperess of Adventureland. Hades has been helping her, under the guise of Lazuli, God of the Underworld. She’s sent her minion to make and poison a meal for Kuzco, and to turn anyone who resists into alpacas. I’ve managed to anchor the snowflake portal on your map to the exact place it’s being made.”

“Yeah, so your job is to find and stop him,” Kuzco added. “Because otherwise, Yzma’s going to kill me.”

“On it!” Kari said, saluting.

Kuzco made an approving noise. “Nice, I like the salute. Now, get out there!”

The portal closed on Merlin’s disapproving glare.

The snowflake portal was much deeper into Adventureland. Willow fell into step beside Lottie as they started walking. “Hey, that’s probably where Noser got that float,” she noted, motioning towards a small shop across from the treehouse.

“Do you think we’ll have time to grab one, with all this?” Lottie asked absently, and then realized how that might have sounded and her cheeks warmed. “I mean-- his looked really good. And I’m always down for a float. And-- you know, we have to use up the snack credits somehow.”

Willow smiled at her. “We probably will.” She shrugged. “They wouldn’t make a game that would stop people from enjoying their park.”

Lottie rubbed her elbow. “You’re sure it’s a game?”

Willow glanced at her. “Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know. It just-- feels different.” She stared into the ground. “Like-- they keep pointing out things we’re really doing. And I’m not-- I don’t know much about technology, but it would be really hard to get 2D animation styles live, wouldn’t it?”

Willow shrugged. “It’s Disney. They could do it. Besides, if it was a real portal then would it be 2D?”

“No, I guess not,” she admitted. That would be sort of weird.

“Right. So I’m thinking, after this quest, we split off and hit up a couple rides before the whole day passes us by.” They dodged the stream of water that spewed from the mouth of a camel statue. “Maybe we could even hit up this one,” she added, gesturing at the flying carpets overhead and raising her voice to be heard over the safety briefing.

“Maybe,” Lottie echoed.

If Willow noticed how her voice shook, she didn’t comment on it.

Zak and Kari already had the portal opening by the time they walked up. Kronk stood on the other side, his back to them, humming as he collected things from the shelf of a kitchen unit. A set of vials filled with pink liquid sat on the counter behind him. Kari backed up, standing on a Sorcerer’s seal that had been set into the pavement (she would’ve hit Lottie, if Lottie hadn’t skittered to one side).

_ “Turn and face me!” _ she all but yelled.

The portal was in a fairly secluded area (as secluded as Disney World got), but Lottie still felt the telltale tingle of the blood leaving her face as her stomach flipped.  _ Someone _ was going to hear her yelling and-- well, at best, they’d think she was insane or disrespectful. At worst-- they could get kicked out.

Pans clattered to the floor as Kronk jumped, spinning. “Who are you people?” he asked, squinting. “How’d you get in here?”

Zak crossed his arms. “We’re Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, and we’re gonna wreck whatever evil things you’re plotting.”

Kronk winced. “Well I uh, can’t let you do that. So, sorry about this. Wish it could have been easier.” He picked up a vial from the table. “No hard feelings, I hope.”

He threw the vial at the portal.

Lottie half expected it to come flying through and smash at their feet, but instead the portal was briefly obscured by pink goo before it washed off, leaving Kronk standing by the table, trying to take a vial from the set with his oven mitts still on. Kari smirked.

“My turn.”

She lifted her card into the air.

A mob of broomsticks appeared from the sides of the portal, converging on Kronk. The view was entirely covered in them, with the sounds of pans crashing in the background. They returned to the sides and out of view and quickly as they had come, leaving a pile of pans where Kronk had once been standing and no sign of any pink potions anywhere. Kari crossed her arms, smirking.

“No hard feelings, I hope.”

Zak snorted.

“Hey, you did it!” Kuzco’s voice rang out. “Merlin patched me into the portals so I got to watch the whole thing. Nice job. Unfortunately, that’s only the appetizer. You’ve still got the main course to go, which is cold and  _ rotten _ . And I’m talking about Yzma, in case you didn’t catch that. Wizard man said he’d put the ‘moon portal’ where you needed to be, whatever that means, so, head on over there I guess! And make it snappy. I’ll be waiting!”

The portal closed.

“What spell was that?” Lottie asked.

“Apprentice Mickey’s Broomsticks,” Kari said, flashing the card face in her direction. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah,” Lottie said.

Zak snickered. “You got him good,” he said. “C’mon, let’s get back to that moon portal.”

Lottie half expected Willow to make a comment about how, ‘of course you got him good, it’s a game for children’, but she didn’t. She just fell into step with Lottie as they trailed the other two, pointing at the children who were playing in the water spraying from totem poles nearby.

“I get the feeling that would feel incredible in the heat of midday,” she said.

“It  _ would _ ,” Lottie sighed. It wasn’t so late that the sun was killing her just yet, but it would get there, no doubt. “We should stop by, if we’re in the area.”

Willow looked at it wistfully. “If those other two would slow down we could try it out now.”

“Just let the camel spit on you,” Lottie suggested. “Streamline it.”

“You’re a genius,” Willow deadpanned.

(she let the jet of water hit her shoulder as they passed)

Zak and Kari hadn’t activated the portal when they finally reached it.

“There you are, we thought you got lost,” Kari said.

“We did,” Willow said.

“Kind of,” Lottie added. “It’s just kind of crowded and we lost sight of you.”

Willow crossed her arms. “You guys walk pretty fast.”

“Sorry,” Zak said. “We thought you were behind us.”

“It’s whatever,” Willow said, leaning against the railing beside the keyhole. “Let’s do this.”

Kari looked at Lottie. “Care to do the honors?” She asked, gesturing to the keyhole.

“ _ Um _ ,” Lottie said eloquently. “No, you can do it.”

“Excellent!” Zak slapped his key against the lock, and the portal appeared in the window in a puff of smoke.

Yzma noticed them immediately, zeroing in on Zak and Kari. Lottie found herself extremely glad to be to the side and out of her sightline. Yzma cackled, high and grating.

“How  _ foolish _ of you to disturb me in my lair,” she said, her impossibly long eyelashes flicking with each word. “This lair is full of potions that can drain you of your magic powers and other potions that can transform you into harmless animals. You’ve chosen to confront  _ me _ in a room filled with the tools of your undoing!”

She threw a potion at them, which coated the portal and slowly melted off.

“Yeah?” Zak shuffled his deck between his fingers, the epitome of casuality (Lottie envied him). “I’ve got a gunshow for you too.”

He lifted the card to the screen.

A candle appeared, aiming itself at Yzma. She squawked and attempted to dodge under the table, but the candle followed, blasting her with fire. When the flames died, she was much more ragged than before, and after declaring, “We’ll call it a draw,” she collapsed to the floor.

Zak twirled the card between his fingers and blew across the top with a smirk. “Easy.”

“Hey, you beat her!” Kuzco’s voiceover cheered.

Yzma screeched, standing back up.

“Shoot, spoke too soon,” Kuzco said.

“I  _ will _ be empress!” Yzma held a pink potion aloft. “You have no idea what this potion is capable of! I’ll make this day your last!”

Zak smiled. “Sure Jan,” he said, lifting a card once again. Images of strange, colorful creatures swam around the screen. Yzma twisted her head, batting at them with her free hand.

“No!” she shrieked. “Get away from me!”

The potion fell from her grip, and in a flash of pink, a purple tinted alpaca stood where she had once been.

“Way to go!” Kuzco said. “For real this time. You really stopped Yzma.”

The alpaca glared at them, but a knock from in the portal, somewhere out of sight, stopped them from doing much more.

“Yzma,” Hades’s voice rang out, “how’s my favorite Empress-to-be?”

“Uh oh,” Zak said.

“Why don’t we give that guy a little privacy while he adjusts to his new barnyard minion,” Kuzco said. The portal swirled briefly, and when the smoke cleared they were viewing Kuzco’s throne room, Merlin beside him.

“Well done, sorcerers!” Merlin cheered. “You’ve put a stop to Hades’s plan.”

“Hey man, all in a day’s work,” Zak said cheerfully. “What’s next?”

“Yes, well, a few things have come up in other sections. Hades has caused a good deal of problems in the future worlds.”

Kari frowned. “There aren’t any portals in Tomorrowland though.”

“I’ve managed to anchor a temporary one, but you’ll have to hurry. It will be in motion, you won’t be able to miss it. I’ve anchored it to the trash can called Push, he walks around until closing. Track him down and you’ll find the portal. I’ll speak to you there. Good luck, sorcerers!”

He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Hey, thanks again for the help out there,” Kuzco said. “I kind of like not being dead.”

“Like Zak said, all in a days work.” Kari saluted. “Just glad we could help.”

“Yeah.” Kuzco scratched his elbow. “Well, if you ever need anything, just give me a call, alright? I’ll help as best I can.”

“Okay,” Kari said cheerfully.

The portal closed on Kuzco waving goodbye.

“How exactly would we call him?” Willow asked. “He doesn’t have a phone, did they add summoning crystals or something?”

“Well,” Kari said, “I honestly have no idea. But, that’s a bridge I’ll get to later.”

Zak winked at Lottie and threw his arm around Kari’s shoulders. “Come on, ladies,” he hollered, “to Tomorrowland!”

Willow looked to Lottie as the pair walked away. “So, you want to grab those floats?”

Lottie rubbed her arm. “One more quest?”

Willow grinned, and she felt her heart stutter. “One more quest.”

_ Shoot _ . She was so screwed.


End file.
